Hearings On Dulles-area Power Line To Be Held Today, Thursday

The State Corporation Commission is holding two public hearings this week on a controversial power line project in southern Loudoun.

Dominion Virginia Power has asked the SCC for permission to build a 230 kV transmission line that would mainly serve a data center near Rt. 50, and two public hearings on the company's proposed route for the line were scheduled for August.

But Loudoun County supervisors voted in July to suggest alternative routes, and Dominion asked the SCC for more time to study those paths.

The SCC also agreed to consider two of the supervisors' routes, so now the first of two local public hearings will be tonight at 6 o'clock in the boardroom of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St. SE in Leesburg. The second will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at Freedom High School, 25450 Riding Center Drive in Chantilly.

The power line generally would connect to an existing line east of Racefield Lane and Rt. 50 and span the Rt. 50 corridor southeast to a new substation east of the intersection of that highway and Poland Road.

However, Dominion's proposed route would place the infrastructure mainly on the south side of Rt. 50, which has angered residents and business leaders, who say the 4-mile power line would be an eyesore leading into one of Loudoun's gateway corridors.

In addition to this week's meetings, a third public hearing on the matter will be held in Richmond on Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. in the SCC's second-floor courtroom in the Tyler Building, 1300 E. Main St.

Anyone wishing to comment at the hearings should arrive early and sign in with the SCC bailiff.

Written comments on the proposal must be submitted by Jan. 6. All correspondence should be sent to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, VA 23218-2118, and refer to case number PUE-2015-00053.

Electronic comments may be submitted at scc.virginia.gov/case. Click on the ""Public Comments/Notices"" link and then the ""Submit Comments"" button for case number PUE-2015-00053.